Yet Another Zutara Story
by foxtail071694
Summary: Takes place after The Ember Island Players. Katara begins to realize that she doesn't have feelings for Aang and never did. And discovers her feelings for Zuko. The gAang tries to deal with relationships as well as the war. Strays from episode lineup abit
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note:**_ _This is my very first Fan Fiction so, please, bear with me. I'm going to try my best but I'm still nervous that I won't be able to do Avatar the justice it deserves. Gah x.x okay, enough with the negativity; enjoy!_

_

* * *

_**Chapter One**

_Zuko POV_

_What a rare occurrence_, Zuko thought. Everyone in the gAang was silent as they made their way back to beach house. _Lost in their thoughts, I guess. _

After a few more moments of silence, Zuko decided to be the one to break it; "That…wasn't a good play," he stated.

"I'll say," Aang agreed.

"No kidding," Katara muttered

"Horrible," Suki said with a nod.

"But the effects were decent," suggested Sokka, and everyone cracked a smile.

* * *

_Katara POV_

As soon as the gAang arrived back at the beach house and everyone was settled into bed, Katara slipped out the back door and made her way down to the beach. She was still tense from the play and hoped that the water would soothe her nerves a bit. Katara walked across the rocks along the ocean until she came across a small tidal pool. She smiled to herself as she watched the seastar-snail fish crawling along the bottom of the pool.

_That play was horrific; _she thought as she sat down by the water. _They didn't capture my character at all. I am NOT some whiny, over-emotional, bossy, mother-figure who blabs on about hope all the time. Sure, I take charge of the chores and try to keep everyone in line and safe, but it doesn't mean I'm acting like a mother; I'm just trying to look out for my friends and keep everyone together. And sure, on occasion I may, POSSIBLY, be bossy about it, but hey, everyone loses their patience, right? But there is NO WAY that I am whiny and over-emotional. I'll admit that I have hope, and I try to encourage the others to have it too. I try to inspire people. I help people that need me. But I never whine. Ever. I yell, I scream, I lash out with water bending, I cry, but I don't whine and I don't complain. _

Katara sighed. It wasn't just the play itself that made that evening so awkward and stressful. Aang played a part in her misery as well.

_Why does he have to push me? _She wondered. _I don't even know how I feel about him anymore… I thought I liked him…but, ever since Zuko joined the group I've stopped thinking about Aang as a crush. I get feelings for Zuko that I've never had for Aang. When I think of Aang, I feel protective of him. I care about him and I want to be there for him, but I just don't feel a pull towards him. After I forgave Zuko- no, even before I forgave him (I was just too angry with him to acknowledge it) I felt a pull towards him. Every time I see him my heart starts beating faster, I blush continuously, and I can't help but stare at him. All of him. His perfect build, his toned muscles, his shaggy hair, his golden eyes, and most of all; his scar. I've stopped thinking of it as an ugly, unfortunate burn, but as a permanent reminder. A reminder of how he stood up for innocent people when he father was ready to have them murdered. I thought back to the day Zuko told me that story…_

_

* * *

_*****FLASHBACK*****

"Hahahaha! BEAT THAT!" Toph yelled as Aang tried to pull himself out from under the all the rumble Toph launched at him.

"HEY! YOU GUYS WANA FIGHT? TAKE IT OUTSIDE!" Katara screeched, "I'M TRYING TO CLEAN!"

"Whoaaaa Sugar Queen, calm it down, we're leaving," Toph said with a smirk, "C'mon, let's go, Twinkles Toes," she said whilst giving the floor a kick, thus launching Aang out the nearest window.

Katara, still fuming, went back to looking for a broom. _There has to be one around here somewhere, _she thought. _I mean, back when people lived here someone had to have done the cleaning. Hmmmm, maybe there's one in the attic._ Katara began looking around the second floor for a way up into the attic. Finally, she found it; a stairwell hidden behind a door in the Fire Lord's old bedroom. Katara shuddered and continued to look over her shoulder as she climbed the stairs. _Sheesh, this room gives me the creeps_. When she reached the top she looked around the dark, musty room. It was filled with about 10 or so old boxes and trunks. Each covered in an inch-thick layer of dust. Her curiosity got the best of her and she walked over to the nearest box and began to look through it. It was filled with old pots, pans, and dishes. _Huh, _she thought, _these will come in handy,_ and she lifted the box and placed it by the stairwell so she could bring it down to the kitchen when she left. Then she moved on to the next box. This box was filled with old clothes, unfortunately none of them were large enough to fit anyone in the gAang. Next, Katara moved on to one of the trunks. _Oh, _Katara gasped. The trunk was filled with family portraits. It looked like there was one for each year until Zuko was about 11. _I wonder if Zuko knew these were up here…_ Katara grabbed all of them up into her arms and ran down the stairs, through the Fire Lord's old room, and out into the upstairs hallway.

"ZUKO!" she yelled.

"Out here!" he called from the backyard.

Katara ran down the stairs and out the back door to find Zuko, Suki and Sokka skinning some animals they'd caught earlier.

"Hey," she said, out of breath, "look what I found!" Katara held up the paintings.

All three of them looked up and Zuko growled in disgust, "put them back, Katara" he muttered.

"What? Why?" Katara asked.

Zuko stood up, grabbed Katara's arm and led her into the house; away from the other two. "I don't want to see them. In fact, leave them in the fireplace. I'll burn them later."

"Zuko!" Katara gasped.

"What!" He snapped.

"Why would you do such a thing?"

"Because I hate my father!" Zuko said, nostrils flaring.

"Zuko…" Katara was silent for a moment. Trying not to anger him, she whispered, "Why?"

"Katara..." he sighed, exasperated, "you don't understand."

"Please, Zuko. Open up. Just ONCE," She paused, "Please tell me why"

Zuko was quiet for several minutes, but Katara's gaze never left his. Finally he sighed and began, "Those pictures are nothing but a painful memory. Of what my family used to be and of how much we've lost. We used to be happy. We used to come here every summer to vacation together, but when my mother left…my father…well, he lost all patience, all happiness. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't ever easy to deal with, even with my mother around, but once she was gone it was like…he lost all humanity. He didn't want to speak to Azula or me unless it was about our training, and seeing as that was the only way I could spend time with him, that's all I did. I trained and trained, trying to please him, but Azula was always better, and he was always disappointed in me; disgraced because my baby sister was better than me; the heir to the throne. But, finally, I had found a way that I could please him, a way that Azula couldn't possibly prove to be better than me, because she was a girl and wasn't allowed. I begged uncle to allow me into the War Room during one of my father's meetings. I wanted to prove that I was old enough, strong enough, and intelligent enough to be a part of a war meeting. All I wanted was my father's pride," Zuko said, clutching his fists, "but when I arrived to the war meeting, and heard what they were planning…I couldn't just sit there. I had to say something. The General wanted to sacrifice an entire regiment of new soldiers in a battle against the Earth Kingdom. They were going to use them as a DISTRACTION," Zuko spat, "so that they could win. It made me sick, and I spoke against it. But I was young and therefore not supposed to speak in war meetings. I disgraced the general by speaking out of turn, and against his plan. He challenged me to an Agni Kai. I was naïve; I accepted. I thought I'd be battling the General," Zuko paused, and took a deep breath, "On the day of the Agni Kai, I was excited; I turned to face my opponent, so eager to prove myself. But when I turned I saw not the General, but my father. I had outspoken in his War Room, and so it was him whom I had disgraced. When I saw him I fell to my knees, and I begged forgiveness. He told me to get up and to fight like a man, but I stayed down; praying he would forgive me. But no, he looked down at me with disgust, and when I wouldn't get up to fight, he shot a fire ball at my face. And then he banished me." When Zuko finished he was glaring at the floor, absolutely livid.

"Zuko, I-"

Zuko cut Katara off, "No Katara, don't say anything, it's not worth talking about. But now do you understand why I hate him?"

"Yes, I-"

"Good," he nodded, not meeting her eyes, "so will you please leave those in the fire place? I'm going back outside to finish skinning the meat," and he left without giving her the chance to answer.

*****END FLASHBACK*****

* * *

Katara pitied Zuko…but she was also proud of him. And in a way, happy he had done what he had. Because maybe if he hadn't spoken out, then he wouldn't have become the man he is today. He may have turned out like his father and sister; a merciless, brutal, killer. Katara shuddered.

"Cold?" a voice said from behind her.

Katara jumped up and spun around, getting into a defensive position, but then realized who she was looking at.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down," Zuko exclaimed, holding his hands up in a surrender position.

"Sorry," Katara mumbled, "I didn't realize it was you," she said, sitting back down.

Zuko sat down beside her, "Yeah I was standing here for 5 minutes, and you didn't even notice me. You must have been pretty deep in your thoughts."

Katara nodded, "What are you doing out here?" she asked.

Zuko shrugged, "I noticed you leaving and when you didn't come back after an hour I got worried I guess."

"Oh," Katara smiled, "I'm fine, just thinking."

"About what?" he asked.

"The play… and Aang."

"Oh," Zuko muttered

"Yeah, I'm not so sure that I, uh, like him the way he likes me, you know?"

"Oh?" Zuko said, "Yeah I know what you mean, I went through the same thing with Mai…sort of. I guess the best thing to do would be to tell him the truth?"

"Yeah…" Katara nodded, "You're right…thanks Zuko."

"No problem," Zuko stood up, "So uh, you ready to go back now?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm beat"

Zuko laughed and held out a hand to help Katara up, "Oh yeah," he said, "because we had a hard day of lazing around the house"

Katara giggled and they continued to make jokes on their way back to the house.

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_**Author's Note:**__ How'd I do? Good? Bad? Decent? Please leave a comment and let me know! _


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note:**_ _Hi everyone! So I'm going to stray from the official Avatar timeline a bit. I know that after the Ember Island Players it should go to Sozin's Comet Part 1 where it's only three day's 'til the comment but I'm going to make it so that there's a week until the comet. Also I forgot to add that disclaimer on my first chapter, do I always have to put that? Or will once do it?_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters. _

_**P.s. to 'heyEveryone':**__ thanks so much for the review _

_

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_**Chapter Two**

_Zuko POV_

Zuko was in the middle of his usual morning meditation when he heard a loud thud down the hall. He winced and stood up, ready to yell at Toph for causing trouble so early in the morning. But when he opened his bedroom door, it wasn't Toph he saw in the hall. It was Katara.

"Katara?" he called.

"Shhhhh! Everyone's sleeping!" she whispered

Zuko just stared at her, dumbfounded. "You're telling me to shush? You're the one who's making all the noise out here! What the Agni are you doing?"

Katara just put a finger to her lips and began down the stairs, motioning for him to follow. She didn't speak until they reached the kitchen and she had shut the door.

"I wasn't doing anything," she said, "I was just leaving my room to come down here to make breakfast. But it was still sort of dark and I forgot about that table in the hall. I walked into it and knocked it over. Thankfully everyone else in the group is an extremely heavy sleeper and you're always up by this time anyways."

"Oh."

"Uh-huh," Katara replied.

They stood there awkwardly for a few moments and Zuko racked his brains for something to say. When he didn't say anything, Katara just let out a huff of breath and made her way over to the counter so she could prepare breakfast. Zuko just watched for a few minutes as she took out some vegetables and began to chop them. Feeling rude for not offering his help, Zuko walked over to stand next to Katara.

"Uh… Would you like some help?"

Katara looked up at him, clearly shocked, but pleased. He couldn't help but smile at her expression.

"That would be really great!" She smiled back, and handed him some vegetables. "Here, just cut these into equal pieces. Makes sure each is about an inch."

Zuko just nodded and began. As he chopped he could feel Katara's eyes on him every so often.

"I know how to cut vegetables, you know. You don't have to keep watching me, I won't cut myself."

When Katara didn't say anything, Zuko turned to look at her and saw that her face was a deep red. _Is she…blushing? _He thought. _Why would she be blushing? Is she embarrassed that I caught her? But why would she care? _

"Katara?" he asked.

"Hm?" she replied, suddenly very interested in the food she was preparing.

He wanted to know why she was blushing, but wimped out at the last second. "I, uh, finished with the vegetables."

"Great," she said, still not looking at him, "just put them in that bowl, okay?" she nodded towards a bowl on her left.

"Okay…" Zuko dropped the vegetables in the bowl, "is there anything else you'd like me to do?"

"Um, no that's okay; I've pretty much got everything under control here. Although, you could go wake up everyone if you'd like; breakfast will be ready in about ten or so minutes."

"Okay, yeah, I'll do that."

Zuko left the kitchen and began up the stairs. _That was so weird… _he thought, _WHY was she blushing…_ But Zuko shook his head and forced himself to focus on waking up the gAang as he reached the top of the staircase. _Okay… first Aang, then Suki, Sokka, and Toph last. She'll take the longest. _

_

* * *

__Katara POV_

Katara was setting the table when the Aang, Sokka, and Suki walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning, guys" Katara said, smiling

Sokka mumbled something that sounded like 'yeahyeahyeah, where's the food?', and the other two just nodded.

"Where are Toph and Zuko?" Katara felt some heat rush up to her cheeks as she mentioned the fire bender's name. _I was so stupid earlier, _she thought,_ I should have realized he would catch me staring; he's like the king of observation. Ugh! Now he probably thinks I don't trust him or something. I guess it's better than him realizing the real reason though… wait, what even IS the real reason? Surely I don't like Zuko…I'm just…attracted to him. Yeah, that's it. That's what all those feelings are. Attraction. Physical attraction. Nothing more. _

"Uh…hello? Earth to Katara," Sokka said

Katara's head snapped up, "Uh, what? Oh I'm sorry, Sokka. What'd you say?"

Sokka sighed, "I *said* that Zuko was trying to wake up Toph. But it's not going well. Luckily for him, all the floors upstairs are made of wood."

Katara laughed, "Ohh, well maybe we should wait a few minutes before eating. Give them a chance to get down here."

"NO!" Sokka yelled.

"Sokka! Don't-

The kitchen door banged open and Zuko walked it with a furious Toph over his shoulder, "It's okay, we're here"

"So help me Sparky, if you do not put me down RIGHT NOW you're going to find yourself under a VERY LARGE pile of rocks!"

"Okay, okay!" Zuko dropped Toph on the nearest chair while everyone else in the room tried their best not to laugh.

* * *

_Katara POV_

"No! No, no, no, no, no. Your stance is all wrong, Aang. Your legs need to be farther apart and your knees need to be bent further. Yeah, like that. Now extend your arms at your sides and let me hear you roar like a Tiger-Dillo!" Zuko yelled

"Roar.."

Zuko face-palmed. "THAT WAS PATHETIC! I SAID LET ME HEAR YOU ROAR LIKE A TIGER-DILLO!"

"ROARRRRR!"

Zuko nodded, "Better. Still needs work though. You're not getting enough fire out of your mouth when you roar. The amount from your arms could use improvement as well."

"Okay…maybe if I take a break I cou-"

Zuko cut Aang off, "No! No breaks. The comet is in one week, Aang. We don't have time for breaks. Do you think my father is going to let you have a break in the middle of your battle with him? No. He won't. You need to work harder, improve your stamina."

"Zuko," Toph interrupted, "ease up on Twinkle-Toes, he's working hard."

"Yeah, Zuko," added Katara, "just let him have a quick break. He's earned it."

"Fine! You guys want to laze around? That's on you. But don't come crying to me when you're not ready for the comet. *I'm* going to practice!" and with that Zuko stormed off down the beach.

Katara stared after him, wondering why he always blows up like that.

"Geez," exclaimed Sokka, "what's his issue?"

"No idea…" Katara responded, "But I'm going to find out," and she headed down the beach after Zuko.

* * *

_Zuko POV_

_Idiotic Avatar…how does he expect to beat my father if he doesn't want to train? He needs to work hard all day, every day, until the comet. And even that might not be enough. He's only mastered air. And air is a weak element. _Zuko dropped to the ground and buried his face in his hands. _This is not going to end well. _

"Hey."

Zuko's head snapped up, "Katara? What are you doing here?"

"Well, you came after me last night, so I figured I'd return the favor. What's on your mind?"

Zuko grunted, "Nothing."

"Why do you feel the need to do that?" Katara asked

Zuko stared at her, confused. "Do what?"

"Act like some macho-tough guy that never needs to talk about anything. You just keep it all bottled in and act like nothing bothers you. But I know it does. The whole group does. It's obvious when something's bothering you because you blow up at the smallest things. So what's wrong?"

Zuko looked away from her and glared out at the ocean. _Stupid water peasant; thinks she knows everything. This isn't a 'small thing'. It's big. It's a major issue. If Aang can't beat my father, we're all doomed, and she doesn't understand. _

"Zuko!"

"What, Katara! WHAT!" he snapped

Her eyes narrowed, "Don't yell at me. And stop holding things in. TELL ME WHAT YOUR PROBLEM IS!"

_Fine, _he thought, _she wants me to talk? I'll talk. _

"My problem?" he spat, "my problem is that NOBODY is this Agni-forsaken group is taking the comet seriously! Aang has only completely mastered ONE element and he wants to take a break every five minutes! He isn't going to be able to take on my father, Katara. My father is ruthless. He'll kill Aang without a second thought if Aang gives him the chance. AND Aang doesn't want to kill. What the Agni is he going to do then, Katara? There's no other way to defeat my father." Zuko put his head back in his hands.

"Okay…I see your point. But there's no reason for you to freak out like that, Zuko. You should just tell us what you're thinking."

Zuko snorted. _Yeah, because I just love talking about how I feel._ But Zuko's thoughts were interrupted because Katara had reached over and taken his hand in her own.

"I'm serious, Zuko… It would help us to understand what you're thinking. And if you explain it to the group, like you just did to me, I'm sure everyone would be willing to take training more seriously. I know Sokka's just as concerned about the comet as you are. But being at this beach house has made him lazy. If you bring it up to him, he'd be ready to start training hard again in a heartbeat." Katara said with a smile.

Zuko could barely focus on what she was saying because she still had his hand, so he just nodded. _I thought she could barely tolerate me…so why is she comforting me like this? And holding my hand? _Zuko's eyes kept flickering back and forth between Katara's face and their intertwined hands. After a few moments Katara's face reddened and she pulled her hand out of his.

"Well," she said, clearing her throat, "you all set to head back now?"

Zuko nodded, and they rose from the sand together. The journey back to the house was silent and Zuko remained a few paces behind Katara; watching her swinging figure as she walked.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **_Okay, how'd I do? Please, Please, Please leave reviews. I'm not really sure how to bring out the whole Zutara thing. Maybe during a little sparring? Leave suggestions if you have any, please. Sorry Katara didn't get to talking to Aang in this chapter, but it'll happen In the next chapter, i promise. If you have any suggestions please tell me. I may write the next chapter tonight.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: **__Okay so here it is! Chapter three! Thanks to those of you who reviewed! I love getting reviews! Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or any of its characters._

_

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_**Chapter Three**

_Zuko POV_

Zuko let out a huff in frustration. _I just spilled my guts, like Katara told me to, and Sokka hasn't said anything! Maybe it was a mistake to talk to him… Katara isn't always right. As much as she likes to think she is. Although, she does have a way with words; she can be very _persuasive_ when she wants to be. _Zuko found himself smiling. _And she's so strong willed, so inspirational. Beautiful too…_ Suddenly, Zuko realized Sokka was speaking, and forced himself to focus on the warrior's words.

"-ppose you're right, Zuko. I mean, I don't really think Aang could take on the Fire Lord at the moment, either; especially if he isn't willing to kill. He needs to accept that in order to end this war, the Fire Lord needs to die. Or else we all will. So I agree, he needs to train harder; we all do. We should start developing a plan for the attack now, as well as start sparring with each other three or more times a day. What do you think?"

Zuko was stunned into silence for a few moments. _So my little waterbender was right, _he thought, _her brother *was* the one I needed to speak with. Wait…MY waterbender? Where the Agni did that come from? _Zuko shook his head to clear his thoughts, and then remembered that Sokka has asked him a question.

"Uh, yeah I think that's a great idea," he stammered, "Let's go find the rest of the gAang and brief them on what's going on."

"I think we should talk to Aang too, you know, about the whole Fire Lord thing. We should probably do it in front of the gAang, so everyone else gets a say too."

Zuko nodded and the two boys left Zuko's bedroom and headed back out to the courtyard, where the rest of the group was assembled.

* * *

_Aang POV_

"BUT YOU GUYS AREN'T LISTENING TO ME!" Aang shouted, losing his patience.

"Aang, we are listening! You don't want to kill the Fire Lord! We understood the first five times you said it!" Sokka all but spat the words.

"It's not that I just don't WANT to kill him. I CAN'T kill him. It goes against everything I believe in! The monks taught me that every life is sacred. I'm not like the rest of you! I couldn't live with myself if I killed somebody."

"Aang…" Zuko said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "you need to understand…if you don't kill my father, he'll kill you. There *is* no other way! There is no possible way that you can get around this! Now you need to suck it up and just do it. The whole world is depending on you."

"Oh, that's great, Zuko! Just throw that in my face too! AS IF I DIDN'T FEEL HORRIBLE ENOUGH ALREADY!"

"Aang…calm down…this isn't like you. We're just trying to help," Katara said.

"Oh? You're trying to help? Well when you think of a way for me to defeat the Fire Lord without taking his life I'D LOVE TO HEAR IT!" and with that Aang stormed off into the house.

_I can't believe they're doing this to me, _Aang fumed, _they just DO NOT UNDERSTAND. I can't take a life, I can't! Monk Gyatso would be so disappointed in me… but I have to defeat the Fire Lord. I can't let my friends die because of my own selfish beliefs. UGHUGHUGH, I don't know what to do!_

Aang was busty with repeatedly banging his head against the wall when Katara walked into his room.

"Aang, please stop that" she asked.

"Why should I?" Aang asked, continuing with banging his head.

"Because, it isn't healthy. Now can we please talk about this Fire Lord thing calmly? Please?"

Aang stopped banging his head and sat down on the bed next to Katara, "There's nothing to talk about."

"There's plenty to talk about, and you know it."

"You know what? You're right. There *is* plenty to talk about," he said, sounding bitter. "We can talk about why you wouldn't kiss me yesterday. Why are you confused?

"Aang…now isn't the time for that. We need to focus on the comet."

_Why is she avoiding this, I thought she liked me, so what's the problem?_

"Just tell me, Katara. I mean, like I said yesterday, we kissed at the invasion, and I thought we were going to be together. But we're not. And I don't understand why. I thought you liked me."

"I don't know…"

"What do you mean you don't know? What don't you know Katara? Just tell me already! I can't handle anymore frustration today! Just be open and honest with me, '.know."

"I don't know that I have those feelings for you!" Katara shouted. She let out a sigh, "No, I know I don't have those feelings for you. I'm so sorry Aang… I really care about you, as a friend, and as part of the family. But I don't have feelings for you…romantically." She finished. "I'm sorry," Katara whispered again.

Aang went numb inside. He couldn't believe this was happening. The girl of his dreams just rejected him, and with everything else that was going on he didn't think he could handle it. But he forced himself to respond to her, calmly.

"Its okay, Katara, I completely understand. Thank you for being honest with me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going for a walk," and with that Aang left the room, leaving Katara alone to think about how much she had just damaged their chances of winning the war.

* * *

_Zuko POV_

Zuko was organizing sparring partners when Katara came out of the house.

"Where's Aang?" he yelled over to her.

"Went for a walk," she called back

_Of course he did, _Zuko thought, snidely.

"Alright! Change of plans!" he announced, "Aang decided that he needed to go for a little stroll so we're going to have to rearrange the partners. Toph, it's you against Suki and Sokka. Katara," he looked over to the waterbender, "you're with me." He turned back to the rest of the group, "Do not stop sparring until there's a winner, okay go!"

Zuko and Katara walked over to the left half of the courtyard, and stood about 25 feet from each other. Zuko pulled off his tunic and called over to Katara, "Ready whenever you are."

* * *

_Katara POV_

It took all of her will power not to drool when Zuko removed his tunic. Sure she'd seen him shirtless before, but now that she was aware of her…feelings… for him, it was a great deal harder for her to control herself.

"Ready whenever you are," Zuko called over to her.

"Ha, you're the one who felt the need to take the time to disrobe first," Katara called back.

Katara saw Zuko blush a deep red and, in order to hide her own blush, she bowed respectfully to Zuko so they could begin their sparring. Zuko bowed back and settled himself into an offensive stance.

Before Katara had time to even get herself into a defensive position, Zuko launched a fire kick at her and she had to tumble to the side to avoid it. "Hey! Watch it!" she yelled.

"We're _sparring_ Katara, it isn't supposed to be easy!" He teased.

_Oh, that's it… _she thought, _he's in for it. _

Zuko shot four more bursts of fire at her and she deflected the blows with her octopus arms. While he was concentrating on building up another fire kick she whipped him with her octopus arms. And that's when the fighting really started to get dirty.

After twenty minutes, Toph had defeated Sokka and Suki, but Katara and Zuko were no closer to a winner. Both were covered in burns, cuts, and bruises and were breathing fairly heavily. During their sparring they had gradually started gravitating towards each other. Within another ten minutes they were a foot from each other and fighting dirtier than ever. Katara was on the offense with ice shards and Zuko on the defense with fire daggers. Suddenly, Zuko seemed to take interest in something to Katara's right and when she turned to look he grabbed her wrists and twister her body around so her back was flat up against his front and her hands were bound behind her back with his own. Katara tried to fight back but with to no prevail. After four minutes, she let exhaustion claim her and gave up her struggle. She heard Zuko chuckle behind her and then tensed as she felt him move closer until his mouth was right by her ear. Katara couldn't believe it was possible for her breathing to become any _more_ ragged than it already was but it did. Then she felt more than heard the faint "I win…" whispered in her ear before he finally released her.

* * *

_**Author's note: **__I know, this chapter is short, I'm sorry. But I wanted to leave it here and see what you guys thought. I still don't really know how to bring Zutara out into the open, so, again, if you have any suggestions please don't hesitate to tell me. Send me a private message if you don't want to leave it in a review. Any other suggestions are welcome as well, not just those pertaining to Zutara. I'll try to have chapter four up in the next 24 hours. Reviews would really help to motivate me! _


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note: **__Thanks for all the reviews! Lovelovelove reviews, they make me want to write more xD_

_Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or any of its characters_

_

* * *

_**Chapter Four**

_Zuko POV_

As Zuko was meditating in the sitting room, he could hear Katara banging around in the kitchen. When he heard another loud crash followed by a curse from Katara he decided to see if she needed any help. _She really doesn't want me to meditate today, _he thought.

"Everything OK in here?" he asked as he entered the room.

Katara spun around when he spoke, startled. Zuko couldn't help but laugh at her expression. That and the fact that her face was dripping with sweat and her hair so frizzed it looked like she'd been hit by lightning.

"What!" she spat

Zuko chuckled, "I'm sorry, Katara. You just look so…distressed"

"Yes well that would be because there is no more food in this house and I'm supposed to have dinner ready in an hour!"

"Okay, okay! Calm down. I have money so how about we go to the market? Dinner will be a little late but we'll have food for the rest of the week." he suggested.

"Oh! Yeah, that'd be great. Okay let me just brush my hair and write a note to the gAang and then we can go."

Zuko nodded and went to wait at the front of the house. Then it hit him. He was going to be alone with Katara.

"Okay!" Katara said, running out of the house, "I'm ready!"

They started walking down the road when they heard a shout behind them.

"HEY! WHERE ARE YOU TWO GOING?" Sokka bellowed.

"MARKET!" Katara shouted back, "LEFT A NOTE IN THE KITCHEN."

"OH, GOOD! MAKE SURE YOU GET LOTS OF MEAT!"

Katara and Zuko chuckled.

"Your brother really enjoys his meat, huh?"

"Yeah," Katara giggled, "it's a little unsettling sometimes."

Their laughter eventually eased into a comfortable silence. _I don't remember the market being so far away, _Zuko thought. Maybe it was just because he was with Katara, and she made him nervous. Not in a worried sort of way; more of a he-was-aware-of-every-little-thing-she-did sort of way. The way her hips swing ever so slightly when she walks, the way she brushes her hair out of her face with her fingers every so often, the way she licks her lips every two minutes. _I wonder what her lips taste like… _Zuko shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

"What?" Katara asked, looking up at him with confused eyes

_Those eyes…_Zuko thought, _so big…so blue…_

"Zuko?"

"Uhh…what?" he asked, _Damn it, Zuko. Focus_! He told himself.

"Why were you shaking your head?"

"Oh…uh…Mosquito-flies…" _Mosquito-flies? Really, Zuko? Like she'll believe that._

"Oh okay."

And they were once again engulfed by silence.

* * *

_Katara POV_

"What do you think Zuko? Ocean Cumquats or Sea Prunes… Zuko? Zuko!" she yelled

"Uh, what," he turned back towards her.

_What was he staring at? _Katara turned her gaze towards where Zuko was looking earlier. She felt her chest clench.

"Ugh, real nice, Zuko. I would really appreciate it if you'd focus on all the shopping we need to get done and not those girls over there!" _Why am I so jealous? It's not like we're involved or anything. Not at all. We're just friends. Although… the way he held me during our sparring earlier today didn't seem like a way one friend would hold another…ugh! Get it together, Katara. _

* * *

_Zuko POV_

"Wha-, Katara, I wasn't. I have no interest in those girls. I didn't even notice them over there. I was looking at the meat stand." Zuko said

"Sure, whatever," Katara replied.

_What's her problem? _Zuko thought, _I really was looking at the meat stand! Why would she care anyways if I was looking at those girls? Oh…she isn't…_Zuko felt himself smirk.

"You're not…jealous?"

"What? No! Of course not! Why would I be jealous? I just think you should focus on the shopping is all. We don't want to delay dinner any longer than we have to." Katara was turning a deep crimson color, "and wipe that smirk off your face! Now! I'm NOT jealous!"

"Okay, okay! You're not jealous!" Zuko chuckled. _She is soooooo jealous. Wait a second…does that mean Katara…likes me? Oh Agni…_

"Good!" Katara snapped, interrupting his thoughts, "glad you understand. Now let's just finish the shopping and get back to the house."

* * *

_Zuko POV_

_She's barely spoken to me since the whole jealous thing, _Zuko thought, putting away the groceries. He looked over to where Katara was adding spices to the meat for dinner; she was standing right in front of the cupboard where the bread needed to go. _Hmmmm, _Zuko thought as he crossed the room. He felt Katara stiffen as he pressed himself up against her back. "Excuse me…" he whispered as he reached up and put the bread in the cupboard. Katara was in the process of turning around, her eyes boaring into Zuko's, when Sokka came stumbling into the room. The pair immediately leapt away from each other, blushing.

"Kataraaaaaaa," he whined, "When will dinner be ready? I'm STARVING."

"Relax, Sokka," Katara sighed, "It'll be ready in a few minutes. Go wash up," Katara barely had time to finish her sentence before Sokka turned around and stumbled back out of the kitchen, "AND TELL THE REST OF THE GROUP TO DO THE SAME" she yelled after him.

Katara sighed when Sokka didn't answer and went back to seasoning the meat.

"Um," Zuko cleared his throat, "I finished putting away the groceries; is there anything else you'd like me to do?"

"Yes," she answered, and Zuko smiled, "go tell the rest of the gAang to wash up." His smiled faded.

"Oh, alright."

* * *

_Toph POV_

"Hey there, Sifu Hotman." She said.

"Hey Toph," she heard the smile in his voice.

Toph really liked Zuko. Sure, he had chased Aang all over the world and tried to capture him, sure his family was completely nuts (except for his charming uncle, of course), and sure he was hotheaded and overzealous. But he could really hold his own in a fight, and she knew he cared about the group; Katara especially.

"So tell me, Sparky" Toph said, " how are things with Sugar Queen?"

Zuko seemed to choke on his own spit. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Toph smirked, "You heard me, Zuko. How are things going with Katara?"

"I- I have no idea what you're talking about," Zuko said

"Oh, Sparky, Sparky, Sparky," Toph chuckled, "you forget I can tell when you're lying." Toph could feel Zuko tense up. "Oh, c'mon Zuko, you can tell me about it. I already know there's _something_ going on. Every time you guys are near each other both your hearts start beating really fast."

Zuko stammered incoherently, "uh, I, well, uhm…" Toph giggled and Zuko took a deep breath, "her heart does that too?"

Toph smiled but before she could speak Katara's voice cut her off.

"DINNER!" she yelled.

"Let's go, Sparky," Toph said, "we wouldn't want to keep Sugar Queen waiting, now would we?" She chuckled as Zuko tensed.

* * *

_Sokka POV_

Sokka was playing footsies with Suki under the table while Katara put the food out.

"Does anyone know where Aang is?" Katara suddenly asked.

Sokka and Zuko snorted while everyone else shook their heads.

"I hope he's okay…" Katara mumbled.

_Was that guilt I just heard in her voice? Why would Katara feel guilty? _

"Katara don't worry," Sokka said around mouthfuls of food, "I'm sure Aang's fine. He'll come back when he's ready."

"Yeah," Toph said, "You know how Twinkle Toes loves to run away from problems. It's sort of his thing."

"Yeah," Sokka agreed, "He'll be fine, Katara, don't worry about it. Just sit down and eat."

"Okay," Katara said as she sat down beside Zuko, "I guess you guys are right."

* * *

_Aang POV_

Aang clutched his stomach as it rumbled. He'd been walking along the beach all day but he still wasn't ready to head back to the house. _It'd be bad enough to face everyone after I freaked out like that…but now I have to face Katara and her rejection too. There's no way I can go back tonight. Maybe I can find some leachy nuts around here somewhere for dinner and then I can find a cave to camp out in…_

_

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__**Author's Note: **__Please review! _


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note: **__Hi guys! Sorry it took me a few days to update. It was back to school this week and my schedule is sort of nightmarish. I'm still trying to finish up summer reading as well so it's hard for me to write because sometimes these updates take me hours. But that's probably because I lose focus and start watching NCIS. Ooops. Okay I'll stop rambling now…_

**Special thanks to "AbbyNormal" for leaving me suggestions! It's greatly appreciated!**

_Anyone else who left reviews I should have replied to via private messages. I'm pretty sure I responded to everyone, if I missed you I apologize. And if you do not have your own fan fiction page or commented as anonymous or as a different person thus making it impossible for me to private message you, then THANKYOU for all the nice reviews =) lovelovelove getting reviews._

**I know, this author's note is exceedingly long and you probably just want to get on to reading the story… ****BUT PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THIS!**

**I have started another story as well. It is called "Siblings". I have never been fully satisfied with the fact that Azula was pretty much born as a psychopathic monster. So my story is about how close Zuko and Azula used to be and then after Zuko gets banished something horrible happens to Azula that makes her the monster that she is today. Please check it out!

* * *

**

**Chapter 5**

_Zuko POV_

Zuko tossed and turned in his bed for what seemed the millionth time that night. _Where the hell did Aang go? _He thought. _How could he just take off like that? The comet is in less than a week! _

"Ugh!" Zuko grunted as he sat up, pushing his hair back out of his face. "I can't just sit here," he muttered to himself. _I need a distraction._

Zuko heaved himself out of his bed and grabbed a shirt. Silently, he exited his room and made his way downstairs; avoiding any and all loose floorboards, and snuck out the back door. It was just as humid outside the house as inside, and so Zuko dropped the tunic; deeming it useless. Zuko then positioned himself into a fighting stance, and began to release all of the day's frustrations.

* * *

_Katara POV_

It was the sporadic bursts of light that woke her. Katara stumbled out of bed and walked over to the window. Somewhere in her sleep-dazed mind she knew that this could be a possible ambush and she was alert and ready to raise the alarm at any moment. But when she looked down into the courtyard, she saw an all too familiar silhouette. _What the… _she opened and closed her eyes a few times, _what is he doing out there?_ Katara slipped into her shoes and, forgetting she needed to be quiet, hurried down the stairs and out the back door.

If Zuko heard her coming, he didn't acknowledge it. He didn't even stop bending. Katara timidly made her way over to him, dodging the fire, and reached out a hand.

* * *

_Zuko POV_

He felt a hand touch his shoulder. Zuko whirled around and, in seconds, had the intruder pinned beneath him. Then he saw the face of the "intruder".

"Ka-Katara?"

She glared at him. "Yes! WHO DID YOU THINK I WAS?"

"I don't know. I didn't see you. I just felt someone grab me and assumed that whoever they were, they weren't a friend."

Her gaze softened, "I'm sorry..." she cleared her throat, "I thought you heard me coming and were just ignoring me. What are you doing out here anyways?"

Zuko sighed, "I was tense; couldn't sleep."

"Oh," Katara nodded. "Well…would you like a partner?"

Zuko didn't understand what she meant. "I'm sorry?" he asked.

"A sparring partner?"

"Oh!" he exclaimed, "yeah that'd be great, thanks."

As Zuko went to stand up, he realized he was still on top of Katara. Immediately he scrambled up, face burning. "Uhhh…sorry about that. Here let me help you up," he said as he reached out a hand.

But as Katara stood up, she lost her footing and stumbled into Zuko's arms.

Katara pulled away quickly and looked up at Zuko, blushing, "Uh….I-"

Katara's eyes held something in them that gave Zuko a newfound confidence, and he silenced her with his lips. He heard her gasp against his mouth and then shivered as he felt her arms wrap around his neck. Zuko reached out and grabbed the water bender's waist; pulling her closer to him, as she twisted her hands in his hair. After what seemed like hours, but could have surely only been minutes, Zuko couldn't ignore the burning in his lungs any longer, and knew he needed to pull away for air.

* * *

_Katara POV_

Katara was about to pull away, but Zuko beat her to it. They stood there, bodies still very much intertwined, as they gasped for air. Zuko pressed his forehead against Katara's and she could feel her heart pounding so violently that she thought it was going to burst through her chest any moment. As Katara's breathing began to level out, she looked up at Zuko; only to find he was already staring down at her. She blushed fiercely and looked away; hoping it was too dark for him to see.

Zuko reached his hand up and rested it below her chin, pushing upwards gently so she was forced to look up at him, "why are you blushing?" he whispered.

He was so close that Katara could feel his breath as he spoke, _Oh La…_ she thought. "Um…" she answered, "I'm not sure…I- I guess because we just…"

"Kissed?" Zuko finished for her, and smirked at her reaction. "Too blunt?" he asked.

"N-no, I suppose not."

* * *

_Zuko POV_

Zuko was immensely enjoying the affect he was having on Katara. She was usually so strong-willed and never afraid to say what was on her mind. That is what usually made him so nervous around her, he realized. He hadn't even wanted to acknowledge the fact that he had feelings for her, for fear of how she may react if she found out. But now…Zuko smirked; now she was timid, and slightly embarrassed, and it gave Zuko the opportunity to take control.

"Well good." He responded, amusement in his voice.

Katara glared at him, "what is it that you're finding so funny?"

_Man, _Zuko thought. _She can read me like a book. _He cleared his throat. "You're different," he said.

"What?" Katara answered; her shock evident in her voice. "What do you mean, I'm different?"

Zuko smirked again, "Well… I was rather worried that kissing you may result in my murder"

Katara's eyes bulged, and Zuko couldn't refrain from laughing. Katara seemed to gain a hold of herself and laughed along with him.

"Well I may have," She said, smiling, "but I was too taken off guard."

Zuko plastered on a face of mock horror, "would you have really?"

But Katara did not return his playfulness, instead she blushed. "No," she whispered.

Zuko leaned in closer, "I'm glad," he murmured and pressed his lips to hers once more.

* * *

_Aang POV _

Aang woke to the sound Momo's fierce growls. Dazed, he tried to stand up.

"Momo, what's going o-"

Aang was in mid-sentence when he felt a searing pain spread across the back of his head. His vision went white as he tried to stay standing, but everything began to get dark and fell to the ground; unconscious.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **_I know, it's short, but i really wanted to end it there. And i felt like it was eventful enough that i could get away with it.

reviews are nice xD


	6. A Word From The Author

Hey guys!

I know it's been awhile… well, almost two years, actually. And that's completely unreasonable. I'm so sorry! Junior and Senior year were CRAZY though. I was just so busy all the time and I got a few new laptops so the story wasn't on there anymore and I forgot about it and yeah. Excuses, excuses.

But I'm back! And I'm going to start working on Chapter Six AS SOON AS I post this little update of mine.

To those of you who stuck it out and waited for this update- Thank you!

And to the newbies, who's story alert emails reminded me that this story existed, I'm glad you like it!

Okay, enough delay.

I'm off to write chapter six!

It shouldn't be long before it's posted! Hang in there!

-Alex :D


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I'm back! I'm sorry it took so long guys, but here it is- Chapter 6!**

* * *

Chapter 6

**Katara POV**

Katara pulled back. "Zuko," she whispered.

"Mmmm," he responded. His eyes were still closed as he pressed his forehead to hers.

Katara blushed. She didn't want to stop- she felt like she could kiss him forever. Her stomach was filled with butterflies. Her head was spinning. Her knees felt weak. She couldn't breathe.

She had never felt better.

Pulling her thoughts together, she continued, "Don't you think we should… head back to the house? We wouldn't want the gAang to come searching… and uh, find us here like this…"

Zuko chuckled. "Whatever you think is best, Tara."

_Tara, _she thought. _No one has ever called me that… well, apart from Sokka on a few rare occasions when we were very young…but it's different when Zuko says it… Just the look in his eyes… and the smile… and the softness in his voice… Oh, La… what have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

**Zuko POV**

"What're you smiling at?" Zuko asked, trying to suppress his own smile.

Katara shook her head, blushing again. "I like it…"

Her voice was so low he almost missed it. He raised his eyebrows. "Oh? And what is it that you like, Tara?"

"That…" she said with a soft sigh, "I like it when you call me Tara."

Zuko grinned, and pulled her closer. He couldn't believe it- just being here with her, like this, it felt… amazing.

_I've wanted to do this for so long, _he realized. _She's so beautiful…so strong, so inspiring, and just so… perfect. I don't know how I've lived without her for so long. _

* * *

**_Katara POV_**

"If you want to head back up to the house," he said, "we should probably do it now, before I change my mind and decide that I'm going to hold you in my arms like this forever."

Katara felt his grin when his face was pressed into her hair. She giggled. _Oh, Zuko… I don't ever want to go back! _She pulled away from him again, grabbing his hand this time, "Yeah, I suppose we should do that… we've got another long day of training ahead of us tomorrow."

Zuko groaned. "Right- training," he said, as he followed his little water-bender up the beach and back towards the house. He definitely wasn't getting any sleep tonight.

* * *

**Sokka POV**

"Katara!" he shouted, banging on her bedroom door. "Katara! Katara Katara Katara Katara !"

The door flew open, "WHAT!" Katara shrieked.

Sokka took two very large steps back. _Woah, _he thought, _is this really what she looks like in the morning? No wonder she's awake hours before the rest of us. Sheesh!_

Frizzy haired and wild eyed, Katara addressed her brother a second time, "HELLO? SOKKA? IS THERE SOMETHING YOU WANTED? I WOULD ASSUME SO SEEING AS YOU'VE BEEN BANGING ON MY DOOR FOR FIVE MINUTES STRAIGHT. WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"Well, if you're going to shout, perhaps we should save this conversation for a la-" seeing the look on his sister's face, Sokka cut to the chase. "Okay, okay," he said, putting his palms up in surrender, "it's just that…well, I'm- I mean…the gAang… is hungry and w-"

"YOU WOKE ME UP BECAUSE YOU'RE HUNGRY? FOR THE LOVE OF LA, SOKKA-"

* * *

**Toph POV**

Downstairs, the gAang erupted in laughter. "Ooooooh, he's gonna get-itttttttttttt," snickered Toph.

Suki buried her head in her arms, over-come with her own giggles.

"He's a dead-man," agreed Zuko, smirking.

Toph looked at Zuko across the table, raising her eyebrows. She knew something happened last night- Zuko was in a terribly good mood, his heart was fluttering, and Katara NEVER slept this late. _Hmmm…_ she thought, _I'll have to do further investigating later…._

Toph's thoughts were interrupted when Katara came stomping down the stairs.

"Good morning, children," she said with a glare. "I mean, you must be children if you can't fix your own breakfast."

Toph let out a low whistle "Awkwarddddddddd… I'll just be outside, stretching…"

Katara whirled around, "Not if you want to eat, you won't! Get upstairs and wash! And don't try feeding me any lies about having already done it- Sokka already told me that none of you have-" Toph shot a glare in his direction, "well none of you apart from Zuko, anyways…"

_And there it is, _thought Toph, _the heart flutter. Yep. Something definitely happened last night. After all of us "children" were in bed. Investigation time, _Toph grinned.

"Hey, Sparky!" Toph called, knowing she was interrupting some sort of meaningful gaze between the two love birds, judging by their heart beats, "come give me a hand, will ya?"

Zuko sighed, "Coming, Toph."

* * *

**Zuko POV**

Zuko shot an apologetic smile in Katara's direction as he followed Toph upstairs. He knew he was about to be interrogated- he just hoped it was over with fast, so that he could spend time with his little water bender…

* * *

_~Alright! That's all for now, I know it's short but it's already half past midnight and I've got a day ahead of me tomorrow. But I didn't want to go to bed without leaving you guys at least a little something. Enjoy! Reviews would be appreciated!_


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

* * *

**Aang POV**

"Uggg," Aang moaned as he rolled over.

Slowly, he sat up. Blinking the gunk out of his eyes, it took him a few minutes to realize he wasn't in the cave he fell asleep in. He was in house. He took in the room around him. _A very nice house, at that_, he added.

The sound of a doorknob turning interrupted Aang's assessment- realizing that someone was about to enter the room, Aang leapt off of the bed and assumed your typical defensive position.

It was a girl- no more than a year younger than himself. Aang straightened, completely taken aback. His eyes widened when the girl broke out in a big toothy grin.

"Oh, goodie! You're awake!" she said. "I thought for sure my brother had killed, or at least seriously maimed, you last night. The bumbling idiot."

"Uhh…" he managed to mumble- utterly lost for words.

The girl giggled. Clearing his throat, Aang tried again.

"Um… I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be rude but uh, who are you? Where am I? And why did your brother almost kill me last night?" Aang scratched his head.

_Stupid hair, _he thought, _I swear I have flea-ants crawling around in it. This stuff is just unsanitary. _

Again, the girl giggled. "Well, my name is Baeli, and this is my house. Well, actually, I guess it's my father's house because he's the one who goes to work, and paid for it, and does all the chores around the house, and feeds the koala-sheep, and-"

Aang cleared his throat. The girl smiled apologetically.

"Heh. Right. This is my house. My brother, Boka, took you here last night after he hit you over the head with a stone."

"Right and why did your brother hi-"

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there!" Baeli huffed. "Boys. So impatient."

Aang grinned.

"As I was SAYING- my brother Boka, found you down by the beach in a cave. He hit you over the head with a stone because that section of the beach, along with the cave, is private property. OUR private property. I know, silly right? Men are so territorial. Anyways, he hit you over the head and then he and his trusty side-kick," Baeli scoffed, "carried you back to the house, where he showed you to Papa, and Papa scolded him and his friend and nearly hit both of them over the head with a rock for being so impulsive and unreasonable," Baeli giggled.

Aang found himself smiling. He liked Baeli, she was charming. And she made it much more comfortable waking up in some strange house, far away from his friends, days before the come- _DAYS BEFORE THE COMET, _Aang exclaimed.

He began to pace the room. "Baeli, you're very nice. And I'm very happy I met you today- although I'm not very happy your brother hit me over the head with a rock, but that's beside the point. My fri- uh, my family, is going to begin worrying about me if I don't get back soon. Heck, they may have already sent out a search party!" Aang knew that the gAang would never do that but hey, sometimes being a bit overly dramatic helps the situation.

"Oh no! Papa wouldn't want them to think that we kidnapped you! Maybe we should bring you back all together, and introduce ourselves, just to make sure that there aren't any issues!"

_Or not, _he thought. _Note to self: do not result to over exaggerating a situation in the future. It helps nothing. _

"Oh," Aang laughed nervously, "I really doubt that that's necessary, my parents will just assume I wandered off on my own again, I'm always doing that. You know, troubled youth and all."

Kicking himself mentally, Aang skirted around Baeli and opened the door, only to find a very large man standing on the other side of it.

"Papa!" Baeli exclaimed.

"Papa…" Aang groaned.

* * *

**Zuko POV**

Zuko banged his head against the washroom door. _I'm going to strangle her, _he thought.

Toph could hardly contain herself. Rather than washing her face, like she was SUPPOSED to be doing, she was hunched over, cackling at her own jokes.

"Feeling a bit tense, Sparky?" she gasped for air, "Maybe…hahahahah….maybe sugar queen can help you out… give you a nice massage, perhaps?" Toph waggled her eyebrows. "I heard she's..hahahah…she's very good…hehehhee…very good with her hands- BAHAHAHHAHA."

Zuko groaned, "Toph you aren't even making any sense, I don't understand why you think you're so funny. Just wash your face so we can go downstairs and eat."

"You mean so we can go downstairs and you and sugar queen can-"

Zuko went back to banging his head against the door.

* * *

**Katara POV**

She looked up when she heard Toph and Zuko entering the kitchen. He smiled at her, she smiled at him.

"Need a hand?" He asked her.

"Thank you, Zuko. That would be lov-"

Sokka's hiss interrupted heard. "Dude! What're you doing. We are MEN. We are the hunters. And the providers. We don't COOK the meals, too! And you, a prince! What's the matter with you! You're going to start giving these women _ideas! _I mean seriously think about the rest of us before you start offering your he-OUCH!"

The gAang laughed.

"What happened? I missed it!" Toph shouted.

Sokka groaned, rubbing his head. "Don't worry about it, Toph. It was nothing. I fell over."

"No you didn't," Toph responded. "I would have felt that."

Suki leaned over and whispered in Toph's ear.

"HA! Good one, Katara. A frying pan, hahhahahah! Looks like you've got a violent streak, Sugar Queen. Didn't think you had it in you."

Katara smirked. She turned back around and handed some meat to Zuko, he was already standing by her side. "Just chop that up, okay? I'll go warm up the bread."

"No problem," he responded with a smile.

Katara blushed as she turned to leave the room.

"Hey, Katara! You're lookin' a bit flushed. Maybe you have sun-poisoning. Maybe that's why you're acting so unreasonable today."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Keep it up, Sokka, and I'll feed your breakfast to Momo. Oh, and I'll hit you with another pan."

* * *

**Zuko POV**

_Well she can certainly handle her own, that's for sure, _he thought with a smile. _I already knew that though. I knew how strong she was. How stubborn. A couple things we have in common, I guess. _Zuko's thoughts drifted off to their sparring match the previous evening.

"You alright over there, Zuko?" Toph smirked. "Your hearts beating prettyyyyyyyyyyyyyy fast. Afraid you're gonna cut your fingers off? Maybe you SHOULD leave the cooking to the women."

Suki and Sokka laughed, thinking that this actually was his problem. _If only they knew…_ he thought.

Zuko turned and shot a glare in her direction. A wasted effort. "I'm glaring at you, Toph." He announced.

"I'm sure you are, Sparky." She responded with a wicked grin.

Zuko groaned.

* * *

~Well? What d'you guys think? Lemme know!


	9. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** Hiya :] Just wanted to thank you guys for all of the reviews and private messages I've been getting, they really are appreciated. You can always let me know if there's something you don't like, though, or if you have any ideas for future chapters. Your reviews and messages don't always have to be praising- I'm open to new ideas.

-I'm watching some Avatar while I'm writing today. The season finale of Avatar: The Legend of Korra was just so beautiful that my life has revolved around watching all of the old Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes for the last two days. Anyways, here's a quote that I thought you guys would appreciate:

Sokka: You know, you're pretty wise for a kid.

Aang: Thanks, Sokka.

Sokka: Usually it's annoying but right now I'm just impressed.

Aang: I appreciate that.

Sokka: So…can I borrow momo for a week?

Aang: -whips around- why do you need Momo?

Sokka: -shrug- mhmium.

* * *

Chapter 8

**Aang POV**

Aang sat on the bed, hopelessly looking back and forth between father and daughter as their conversation continued.

"Mmm, you're right Baeli," said Baeli's father, "we wouldn't want his parents to get the wrong impression of us, simply because your brother is about as intelligent as a horse-ant."

"So, we'll escort him back to his house, and introduce ourselves? Oooo! Papa! We should invite them to dinner!"

The man smiled, "That sounds like a lovely idea, dear. I'll go tell your mother so that she may prepare for the dinner, and then you and I can take your friend home."

Aang blanched. _This won't be good…Unless I can get word to Sokka and Katara before we arrive, they won't know they're meant to play my parents, and the jig will be up. And if they see Zuko… _Aang groaned and put his head in his hands.

He felt Baeli sit down on the bed next to him and place her hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright…hey! You never told me your name! What is it?"

Aang wracked his brains. _Fire Nation name… Fire Nation name... What's a common Fire Nation name…? Do people in the Fire Nation even HAVE names? Uggg… Oh! _

"Lee," said Aang. "My name is Lee. Lee… uh… Yahn. Lee Yahn. That's my name. Yesiree."

Baeli giggled, "You're weird. Oh, well. C'mon. Let's go see if Papa's ready to leave yet."

* * *

**Sorry to interrupt the story, but the ember island players is on and hgoiahgeoahgoiahgohgag. Here's another beautifully perfect quote:

Zuko: Did Jet just…die?

Sokka: You know, it was really unclear.

Ha! Oh, god. Okay okay, I'm done. Back to the story.

* * *

**Zuko POV**

"TOPH! Let me out of this RIGHT NOW," Zuko yelled.

Toph fell over in a fit of giggles.

"You look pretty good up there Zuko, someone oughtta make a statue out of you someday," Sokka said with a smirk.

Zuko answered with a glare.

He heard footsteps behind him, he turned to see Katara standing in the doorway of the house.

"Hey! What's going on out her-" she covered her mouth in attempt to hide her laughter.

Zuko felt his face burning. _Great. Trapped in between two giant rocks-20 feet up in the air-right in front of the girl of my dreams. And she's laughing at me. I'm going to kill Toph. _

Zuko was turning back towards Toph when he saw three people walking down the road that lay to the east of the house. They were walking TOWARDS the house. _Oh, Agni… _thought Zuko. _Wait a second… is that…?_

"Let me down!" Zuko yelled, "Aang's back! He's walking down the road that leads to town!" Zuko hit the ground with a loud thump. "GENTLY, TOPH! GENTLY!"

Sokka and Suki were already running towards the road.

"Wait!" yelled Zuko. "There are people with him! Two of them!"

Sokka and Suki stopped in their tracks.

"Do you think…they're friendly?" Sokka asked.

"He didn't look like he was in any sort of restraints. All the same… I think we should wait for him here."

"Yeah, you're probably-AH!" Sokka let out a yelp as Momo landed on his shoulder. "Oh, Momo, it's just you." He breathed in and out a few times. "Listen, Momo, you know I love ya buddy, but seriously, you can't just go around landing on people's shoulders like that. You're going to give someone a heart attack!" Then he patted Momo's head and gave him a smile.

Sokka turned to see the rest of the gAang rolling their eyes at him.

"What?" He asked. "Tough love, guys. Tough love. It's the only way to raise kids these days."

Katara muttered under her breath and turned to go back into the house.

_What's that sticking out of Momo's paw? _Zuko thought.

"Hey!" Zuko yelled, "Momo's holding something, it looks like a piece of paper."

Zuko watched, unblinking, as Sokka pulled it out of Momo's paw. He heard Katara's footsteps coming up behind him.

"What is it, Sokka?" Katara asked.

"It's a note," he answered.

The gAang waited in silence for a few seconds.

"Well?" Toph said impatiently. "What does it say?"

"Oh!" Sokka exclaimed. "Right, right." He cleared his throat. "'Hey guys, it's me, Aang. I don't have time to explain now. Sokka, Katara, put on your parent clothes. I need you to be my parents again. I don't know when you'll get this but you should be ready by the time I get to the house, or this could get ugly. Also, hide Zuko. If these people see him, they'll know something's up.'"

"Umm?" Toph said.

"Wait, what?" asked Suki.

"Hide me?" said Zuko, wide-eyed.

Katara took charge. "Zuko, get in your room! Sokka, get your beard! Toph get in the house and pretend like you're doing something school-related. You'll have to pretend to be Aang's sister if it gets that far. Suki, the dishes need to be done anyways. If they get into the house, I'll introduce you as my sister." She paused. "Does anyone know where my pregnant-woman-belly went?"

_Her what..? _Zuko sent her a questioning look.

She answered with her own look that said _'I'll explain later'. _He nodded and then headed up to his room.

* * *

**Katara POV**

She had just slipped into her mom costumed when she heard Aang call from downstairs.

"Mom? Dad? I'm home!"

Katara ran out of her room and down the stairs.

"Oh, A-" she started.

"Yep!" Aang interrupted. "It's me! Lee! Back home again! Sorry I took off like that, just another impulse I guess."

Katara caught on. Before she could respond, Sokka appeared from the kitchen.

"I hope you have a good reason for your disappearing again, young man!" He stroked his beard.

Katara fought the urge to roll her eyes. _He's such a dork, _she thought. _No one in their right mind would stroke their beard like that. King Bumi doesn't even stroke his beard like that. _

"That's right, Lee!" She cut in. "I was worried sick! I couldn't sleep! How could you do such a thing! How do you think this stress affects the baby?"

Aang gave her an un-amused look that seemed to say _'Seriously, Katara? Seriously?' _He managed mumbled some form of an apology.

Katara nodded. "Who are your friends?"

The man stepped forward, extending a hand. "My name is Rahnu." Katara smiled and shook his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Rahnu. My name is Surna. And this is my husband, Doka."

Rahnu bowed in Sokka's direction.

A little girl, no older than Aang or Toph, walked forward to stand beside the man.

"Hi!" She grinned. "I'm Baeli!"

Katara returned her smile, "Hello, Baeli. It's very nice to meet you." She paused. "How about we all move to the sitting room, my sister will bring us some tea and we can talk about how you and Lee crossed paths."

* * *

Meh. Writers block. Not sure how far to go with Baeli's family and such. They could pay a big role, or they could just end after the dinner. Suggestions are welcome. Reviews are nice.


	10. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Woah! Reviews reviews and more reviews! Thank you so much guys, I love hearing your input! And since you enjoyed the Avatar quotes, I'll keep putting them in the chapters. Just a few notes to some readers:

** dattebayo4321 –** Yes, that quote was from the Southern Raiders :D One of my favorite episodes.

** MickieHardyGirl** – Thank you for your suggestions! I think you'll be happy to see that I ran with one of them :D

* * *

_**Quote**_

Katara: You've been hallucinating on cactus juice all day, and then you just lick something you find stuck to the wall of a cave?

Sokka: I have a natural curiosity.

* * *

Chapter 9

**Katara POV**

"I'll be right back," she said with a smile. "I'm just going to wash up before dinner. Doka, why don't you give them a tour of the grounds while I'm upstairs?"

Sokka mumbled something unintelligent under his breath and then motioned for Baeli and her father to follow him outside. Aang tagged along behind.

_Well, this couldn't possibly get any more awkward_, Katara thought as she made her way up the stairs. _Poor Zuko, he's going to have to miss out on dinner. Hmph. I wish there were a way to keep Toph up here with him, too. She just can't behave herself._

"So…" Katara jumped at the sound of a voice behind her. "Who's the lucky father?"

She whirled around and saw Zuko staring at her. She let her eyes roam over him for a few moments before answering. He seemed… tense. "You're jealous…of an imaginary baby? You're kidding me, right?"

"I never said I was jealous," he replied.

"It was implied."

"I disagree."

Katara raised her eyebrows, "Uh-huh. Whatever you say, _Prince_ Zuko."

He grunted. "So, you're going to their house for dinner?"

She shook her head. "Change of plans. They're going to come back here for dinner later on tonight."

"And I'm supposed to just hide upstairs?" There was a hint of irritation in his voice.

"That would make things easiest, yes." Katara looked up at him. She felt her chest tighten at the expression on his face. "I'm sorry, Zuko… It's just, your scar, it makes hiding your identity difficult. They're fire-nation… and they own a house on the Island where your family used to vacation… there's little to no chance that they wouldn't immediately know who you are."

Zuko looked at the floor. "I understand, Katara. I'll just be in my room."

Katara watched him turn. He only made it a few steps before she called out, "Zuko, wait-"

He turned, looking hopeful. "Yeah?"

"I was just wondering… if you wanted to help me with dinner?"

His smile faded. "You mean the dinner that I won't be eating?" His voice turned bitter. "I'm all set, thanks. Like I said, I'll be in my room."

_**~Later that Evening~**_

"Great. They're back already."

"Sokka, stop it." Katara said, frustrated. "It's been five hours. They're here at the exact time that we told them to be here."

"Never would have been too soon," he responded.

Katara rolled her eyes. "Just go answer the door. And tell everyone else to get in here and sit at the table. Dinner's just about ready."

* * *

**Suki POV**

"Bye, now! Thanks for coming!" She said.

"It was nice meeting you!" Katara added.

"Yes, we'll be in touch!" Aang said with a smile.

Katara shut the door.

"Well, that was the most awkward dinner I've ever experienced." Said Sokka.

"You betchya," agreed Toph.

"Definitely uncomfortable," Suki added.

She felt Sokka slip his arm around her, "I'm going to go take off this itchy beard, then wanna come for a walk with me?"

She smiled. "Of course, Sokka."

Toph grunted. "Can you guys at least wait until we leave the room before you get all lovey-dovey."

Suki felt her cheeks burning. "We weren't even-"

Toph interrupted her. "Yeah, yeah. Not out loud you weren't, but you forget that I can feel your heartbeats. Blech." She turned towards Katara, "I'm going to bed."

Katara nodded. "I'm going to go see how Zuko's doing."

"Wait! Before everyone takes off, I just wanted to say thank you. For being so great tonight. And bailing me out like that."

Suki smiled, "It was no problem, Aang."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Said Sokka.

"You just better work your butt off during training tomorrow. You still have a Fire Lord to defeat, and we're running out of time."

Aang frowned and left the room.

_Poor kid, _thought Suki. _He bears the weight of the world on his shoulders._

* * *

**Zuko POV**

There was a knock on his door. He didn't bother getting up.

"Who is it?" he called.

"It's me…"

Zuko felt himself relax. _Tara…_ he thought.

"Come in."

Katara closed the door behind her, and leaned up against it.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he replied.

"Zuko," she sighed. "I'm so sorry. I-"

It was his turn to sigh. "Katara, don't. I'm the one who should be sorry. I understand why you had to keep me up here, and I understand that it was against your own will. You were just trying to protect everyone. It's okay, really."

Katara smiled at him. He felt his chest tighten. "Tara..." he said "Come sit with me."

She blushed. But after a few moments, she walked over and sat on the edge of the bed next to him.

"Tara," he whispered again.

She leaned in closer to him. "Mmm?"

"I just want you to know… how happy I am to have you in my life. You make me… better. I'm happier, I don't get as angry, I just-"

"I know," she whispered.

The next thing he knew, they were kissing. Her fingers were tangled in his hair, her body pressed against his. His arms were wrapped around her, his hands exploring her body. He felt her moving closer to him, and just when he thought she was about to climb onto his lap, the door opened.

"Hey, Katara are you still i-AH. WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?"

Katara and Zuko broke apart, gasping, both exhilarated and horrified at the same time.

_Oh, Agni, _Zuko thought. _Of all the people that could of walked in…it had to be Sokka? _

"Hey Sokka…" began Katara.

"Don't 'hey Sokka' me!" he yelled. "You better explain what you were doing in here, on his bed, like that…and YOU" he shouted at Zuko. The vein in his forehead was pulsing. "You better explain what your hands were doing roaming all over my baby sister!"

Katara sighed. "Sokka… we can explain everything. Just, you better sit down."

* * *

Yes? No? Good? Bad? Let me know! And let me know anything you might want more, or less, of!

* * *

_**Quote**_

Guru: I know I am not the person you expected ...and I did not expect to be licked by a giant tongue just now.


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